Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

The best vegan gluten-free chocolate cake! Rich and decadent and made with simple ingredients. No one will ever guess it’s both vegan and gluten-free!

If you’re a regular reader of this blog then you’ll know that I don’t eat gluten-free. My mom and sister, however, do. So I love making them cakes and cupcakes when there’s a birthday or special occasion.

And honestly this cake is so good that there will never be a reason to make a gluten-free vegan cake and a ‘regular’ vegan cake for everyone else. If you have a gluten-free guest coming over for a special occasion then this is the cake to make for them and for everyone! There won’t be a single complaint I promise.

Of course if you love the look of this cake but only have regular all purpose flour on hand and you don’t need it to be gluten free then no problem. You can simply switch the gluten free flour for all purpose flour and get the same fantastic results. Or make our dairy-free chocolate cake or our best vegan chocolate cake instead.

How To Make Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.

• Sift gluten free flour and cocoa powder into a mixing bowl and add white sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and instant espresso powder and mix together.
• Prepare vegan buttermilk by adding 1 Tbsp lemon juice to a measuring jug and adding soy milk up to the 1 cup (240ml) line. Let it curdle.
• Prepare flax eggs by adding 2 Tbsp of ground flaxseed meal to a bowl and then adding 6 Tbsp hot water. Let it sit for a minute to become gloopy.
• Add the vegan buttermilk to the mixing bowl along with flax eggs, oil and vanilla extract. Stir into a thick batter.
• Now add in a cup of boiling hot water and whisk it in. The batter will be thin.

• Divide the batter between two 9-inch cake pans (sprayed with non-stick spray and lined with circles of parchment paper on the bottom).
• Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.
• Allow to cool in the cake pans for a few minutes before transferring them to wire cooling racks to cool completely before frosting.

Recipe Tips

Gluten-free all purpose flour. It’s essential that you use a gluten-free all purpose flour blend. I don’t recommend trying this recipe with any single type of gluten-free flour such as rice flour or almond flour or coconut flour. I would not expect this recipe to work in that case. It must be a blend that is meant to replace regular wheat flour.

Instant espresso powder. We use just a little instant espresso powder in this recipe which really helps to enhance the chocolate flavor. You don’t notice any coffee flavor at all in the cake, it’s just really chocolatey. You can use any espresso powder or instant coffee. Alternatively you can omit it altogether.

Vegan buttermilk. We made the vegan buttermilk using soy milk. But you can also make it using almond milk if you prefer.

Flax eggs. This recipe uses two flax eggs which is just a mix of ground flaxseed with hot water. You can make a chia egg the exact same way as a flax egg and use that instead. Or you can replace the flax eggs with 6 Tbsp of applesauce.

The Frosting. The frosting on this cake (as pictured) is the whipped version of our vegan chocolate ganache. It’s just 2-ingredients: vegan chocolate and coconut cream. It’s not a very sweet frosting and so it’s ideal for those who prefer their frostings to be less sweet. If you want a more traditional buttercream frosting then our vegan chocolate buttercream frosting will also work great for this cake.

Recipe Q&A

What brand of gluten-free flour works best in baking?

We have tried this recipe with different brands of gluten-free flour blends and it has worked great with all. There can be some variety between brands but the main thing you want to look out for is that it must be a blend and it must be designed to replace regular flour in baking. That being said one of our favorite brands for consistent results is Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour (not sponsored, we just like the flour).

What size cake pans does this recipe adapt to?

You can make this cake in two 9-inch cake pans or three 8-inch cake pans. For a fatter cake you can also do it in two 8-inch cake pans, but increase the baking time to 35 minutes. For a 9×13 sheet cake bake for 35-40 minutes.

Can I make cupcakes from this recipe?

Sure! This recipe will make 18-24 cupcakes. If you want a perfect 12 cupcakes then check out our recipe for gluten free chocolate cupcakes.

Can this cake be made with regular all purpose flour?

Sure. Just replace the 2 cups of gluten-free flour with 2 cups of regular all purpose flour.

Storing and Freezing

Keep it stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days. Or you can keep it in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

It is also freezer friendly for up to a month if you want to freeze it.

More Gluten-Free Baking Recipes

1. Vegan Gluten Free Carrot Cake
2. Gluten Free Chocolate Cake (7-inch)
3. Gluten-Free Chocolate Cupcakes
4. Vegan Gluten-Free Brownies
5. Vegan Gluten-Free Banana Bread
6. Vegan Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

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